Original Item. Only One Available. There are lots and lots of confusing pictures and bits of information about Landsturm.  This is easily traced to the fact that most people do not understand the Landsturm and that there was no real standardization.  With the exception of a paper drill, before World War I they did not exist. They existed only on paper.

In the Wehrordnung of 1888 the Landsturm was laid out in two separate and distinct levies or bans.  They’re really one along the lines of young boys and old men. Between the first of January and the middle of February, a list of service eligible young men from the subject class year was put together. Requests for exemption from service were considered by the lowest recruiting committee.  Citizens were categorized by class designated by the year in which they were born.  So the class of 1892 for instance would be the recruiting process in 1912 at the age of 20.  This is often confused because the French system used the year in which they reported in as a class number or year. There were basically two divisions of manpower, active military service (Dienstplicht and Landwehr) being one; and the Landsturm being number two. In certain theory, this was supposed to cover the ages of 17 through 45. 

During World War I, there were 334 Landsturm battalions established.  Of these 142 were considered "mobile".  Most of the Landsturm were placed towards the Eastern front and eventually they were used in the area of communication to replace Landwehr soldiers.  There was even some use of Landsturm on the Western front in quiet sectors.

This is an outstanding porcelain statue of an older Landsturm Landwehr soldier wearing their shako with the Landwehr cross. Most shakos were supposed to be leather with a large Landwehr cross and blazoned over the colors of the land.  However, all kinds of shakos were pressed into service.  Sometimes it is difficult to determine any kind of standardization within a unit as some photographs show old Landwehr shakos mixed in with shakos with Prussian eagles on them.

The soldier stands on a base covered in laurel leaves with two iron crosses on the sides of the text:

Fest steht und treu
die Wacht am Rhein

Firm and true stands
the watch on the Rhine

The hollow interior of the statue seen through the bottom is stamped with the number 2614, likely the model number. The back of the statue is marked with a maker’s mark, HS or SH. 

The statue measures 11¼” tall and the base measures 3⅛ x 4¼”. The only issue is that the rifle appears to have had the top of it broken off. Otherwise this piece is in good shape.

Ready for display!